Rest and Restoration

In my last blog, I talked about the year of Jubilee. Jubilee - which comes from the blowing of the shophar - and indicates liberty, has a lot to do with how God sees a life well-lived. There are two things that I see here - rest and restoration. First, God calls for the land to be at rest every 7th year. Ya know, God really believes in this idea of rest. He rested on the 7th day, he wants us to rest and now he wants the land to have rest every 7th year. He is so committed to this idea that he promised that there would be enough abundance of food in the 6th year to carry over through the 8th year (since they were not to plant until then, but still needed to eat.) Now, the Hebrews - as far as we know - never actually did this. And they certainly never had a jubilee year. What does that say? One thing it says to me is that we work way harder than God ever intended for us to work! We never rest. Even when we rest, we are working. Now, being a bit lazy, I do like to sit and do nothing from time to time. But, usually I'm still worried about what I ought to be doing. So, I'm not resting because I'm worried.

What, if anything, does this have to do with money? The first thing that comes to mind is giving the old plastic a day of rest could be a good thing for a lot of people! But, seriously, what if we did rest in our spending? What if we were content with what we had? What if we decided we could do with a lot less than what we currently have? What if I could be content with shelter, food, and clothing and stop buying books (ARG!) and other "stuff?" First, my attitude may change. Maybe I'd stop worrying about how to make ends meet and start wondering how I can help someone else out. If I had money left over at the end of the month, money to use selflessly - would I? Would I use it selflessly? I think so. It's in my heart to do that and when I do have money left over, I have done so, so I think I can say yes to that. It just seems like there are very few times when there is money left over. So, first, comes contentment. In America, we are taught - brainwashed may be better - to never be content. We are inundated with advertisements telling us we need to smell better, look better, drive a better car and on and on. We are always being told we NEED this new and improved life!

Christians are no different. There are so many christian peddlers out there it is hard to stomach. It is amazing how duped we can be. Paul tells us to be content and he's right. We just need to live that out.

Here is what I think is neat about God's plan for Jubilee. In the event you don't live out of contentment and do get into debt - God makes a way for restoration to happen. Debts are cancelled, land is restored to owners, and rest is given to all. What a great system...too bad it'll never work here!